Apparatus for marking laundry



March 18 1924o 1,487,037 M. T SOUTHWICK APPARATUS FOR MARKING LAUNDRY Filed Nov. 27. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet l W/ T/VESSBS ifiarch 19249 v Q ww 3 Sneets-Shet 2 M T $OUTHW1CK APPARATUS FOR MARKING LAUNDRY Filed Nov.

March v v M. T. SOUTHWICK APPARATUS FOR MARKING LAUNDRY 1922 s Sheets-Sheet Filed Nov. 27

Patented Mar. 18, 1924.

"m'rao STATES PATENT ornca.

MORRIS T. SOUT HWICK, OF K ASBBOUCK HEIGHTS, NEW J ERSEY, ASSIGNO'R TO JOSEPH, H. LYNCH, OF ASBURY PARK, NEW JERSEY. p I

; arr anarus r012. MARKING LAUNDRY.

Application filed November 27, 1922. Serial No. 608,595.

To all wltom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Mounts T. SOUTH- vWIGK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hasbrouck Heights, county of afiixing tags to fiat articles suchas the num bered tags that are used in a laundry. 7 The purpose of the" present invention is to provide amachine that will apply tags that are characterized by not only a clasp that is designed to be pressed onto the article, but also with a sliding lock that secures the clasp in its compressed form.

To this end the invention consists of certain mechanical means embodied in a machine that will erform the operations of clasping and locking the tag with the simplest possible movements on the part of theoperator. i

In the drawings which-accompany this specification, v

Figure 1 is a vertical section illustrating all the parts of the machine;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same;

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the tag holding means;

Figure 4 is" an vend view showing the" manner of supporting the tag magazine;

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5, Fig. 2;

Figure 6 is a horizontal section on line 66, Fig. 1;

Figure 7 is a view in perspective of the tagsholding plate; v

I igure 8 is a view in tag releasing jaws; 1

Figure 9 isya view in' perspective ofthe tag separator 'andsupport; and

Figure 10 is a erspective view of the kind of tag that t is machine is designed to handle. i

The machine consists of a pedestal 1, having a table extension 2 and a topguide 3.

perspective of the In the center of the pedestal is a-plunger 4t, capable of vertical reciprocation, the same being operated downwardly through. connecting rod 5 by foot-lever 6, and upwardly by spring 7 working against cross-head-8 at the top of the plunger. At 9 is shown a tag magazine (see Fig. 6) which isv formed like an open-sided box with side ribs 10 and feet 11. This magazine is supported the front end press upward-l on the table by guides 12 on which it may be slid into position to bring the tags, piled therein in proper alignment under the tag a plying mechanism. The tags are assemb ed in this magazine by beingslid down over a vertical rod 13, there being a slot in the tags as shown in Fig. 10 for this purpose. A rod 14, depending from the. table, has a sliding pusher 15 provided with" a handle 16 and a spring 17. When a maga'r zine of tags-is introduced into its proper place the pusher 15 is depressed by the operator by means of handle 16 until thepin 18 sliding in slot 19, engages in the bayonet lock 20 on the rod 1st. After the magazine is in place the operator releases the pusher from the lock, allows it to rise up against the bottom of the pile of tags and push them upward towards thetable. When the tags are so pushed up, the'top tag rests with the back end away from the operator against a plate 21, Fig. 3, while the two corners of against the jaws 22, which are connecte together by a yoke 23 (see Fig. 8). As it is necessary to have a support or abutment under the tag that is to be aflixed, I. provide a sliding plate 24 (see Fig. 9) which is connected by pivotal hinge 25 with a reciprocatingrod 26 v(seeFigs. 1 and 2), which rod in turn is pivotally connected to a; bell crank 27 fulcrumed at 28. A spring 29, attached to the lower arm of the bell crank at one end and to the pedestal at the other end operates totend to keep the sliding support normally in its forward position underneath.

. the top tag. A handle/ shown in Fig. 2 at as Y top tag is so brought into position for use,

the .rest of the tags are automatically separated and supported for afiixing by means vof a pawl 31, pivoted at 32, in a slot in the vertical plunger. This pawl, upon the downward movement of the plunger by the pedal, engagesunder the bell crank 27, so; that when the plunger is lifted by the action of the spring it retracts the sliding support 24- through the medium of the ,bell

crank 27 and the connectingrod 26. Before the plunger reaches the upper end of 1ts stroke, however, the heel 33 of the pawl 1mpinges upon the lower end of a stop bolt 34, which 'forces the pawl to tr p the bell crank, whereupon the spring 23 causes the sliding support to again insert itself under the top tag in the magazine.

lid

I will now describe the mechanism for closing and locking the tag. The tag, as Wlll be shown by an inspection of Fig. 10. consists of a clasp, with an upper and a lower wing, the latter having a slot for guiding the same on the pin of the tag magazine, and the former having projections indicated at 35, which match up with recessesin the lower wing so that when the two wings are pressed together they will secure any flat article placed between them. To hold the two Wings in the closed together position, a lock or bolt 36 is secured slidingly on the upper wing, and flanges 37 on the lock, may be made to engage under lips 38' on the lower member to hold the clasp in its closed position.

The tag attixing member 39 (see Figs. 1

and 2) has a corrugated hammer-end at 40 immediately over the pile of tags in the magazine andis pivoted at 41 to the frame of the machine on bracket 42' A lost motion is provided to allow of a limited longitudinal play of the member 39, and a set screw 43 may be used to adjust the backward movement of the member. The backward movement is accomplished by a spring 44, attached to pin 45 on the member at one end and to pin 46 on the fixed bracket 42 at the other end. The forward end of the member is, therefore, capable of :both a longitudinal back and forward movement, and an up and down movement. Its upward movement may be limited by a set screw 47 in bracket 48 on the frame of the machine To close the clasp and slide the lockinto' place requires both a downward pressure and a forward pressure and the means I have shown in the present machine to accomplish this are as follows On the plunger I attach a cam 49, having two inclined surfaces on its forward end, and on the affixing member I mount a roller 50 against which the cam 49 will impinge when the plunger 4 is brought down by pedal 6. The first efi'ect of this impingement will be to depress the aflixing member 39 until the hammer-end 4O impinges upon the tag to close the same. ment, however, causes the cam to push the roller forward and the aftixing member. being then incontact with the lock on to of the tag, pushes it also forward and slides it into its locked position with the flanges 37 under the lips 38. Corrugations on the top of the lock make this sliding of the lock by the hammer-head more certain.

A. further downward move 1 and 8). This causes the yoke 23 with i s retaining jaws 22 to move forward far enough to uncover the forward ends of the tag, when the article, together with its attached tag may be removed from the ma chine, as soon as the afiixing member is raised, which is accomplished by the spring 44 retracting the same immediately, upon the operator releasing pressure from the pedal. At 53 I have shown a counter which will register the number of pieces operated upon.

To operate the machine a piece to be tagged is slipped in between the upper and lower wings of the top tag until it comes against upright projections 54 (see Figs. 1, 3, and 7). The pedal being then depressed, the affixing member 39 is pushed down by the cam 49 acting on the roller 50, on tothe locking plate 36, and presses the two wings of the clasp together. A further movement of the leven causes the cam 49 to push the roller 50 forward and the corrugated ha1nmer-end 40 being then in close contact with the sliding lock on top of the tag causes the same to he slid into its'locking position with the flanges 37 pushed under and held down by the lips 38. Releasing the pressure from the foot-lever, the operator may then remove the article with .the tag attached and locked thereon and automatically the machine, through the instrumentality or the pawl 31, bell crank 27, rod 26 and support 24 as already described, brings a second tag into position, whereupon the operations may be repeated until all the articles requiring the same identification number have been a tag affixing member, means for moving the tag aflixing member both downwardly onto the tag and longitudinally along the tag.

3. In a machine of the character described, means for holding a tag, a tag affixing means, means for moving the tag afixin means both downwardly onto the tag an longitudinally along the tag.

4. In a machine of the character described,

means for holding a tag, a tag afixing means, means for moving the tag afixing means both downwardly onto the tag to close the same and longitudinally along the tag to lock the same in its closed position.

5, In a machine of the character described,

' means for holding a tag, a tag afiixing means, means for moving the tag aflixing means both downwardly onto the tag and longitudinally along the tag, and means for retracting said tag afiixing means.

6. In a machine of the character described,

a tag magazine and, a tag retaining means, a tag afiixing means, means for moving the tag affixing means both downwardly onto the tag and longitudinally along the tag and means for releasing the tag retaining means;

7. In a machine of the character described, a tag magazine and a tag retaining means, a tag aflixing means, means for moving the tag aflixing means both downwardly on to the tag and longitudinally along the tag and means for releasing the tag retaining means operated after the tag afiixing means impmges on the tag.

8. In a machine of the character described, a tag magazine adapted to hold a pile of tags, a tag aflixing means, means for moving the tag aflixing means both downwardly on to the tag and longitudinally along the tag and a sliding tag support insertable under the top tag and means for inserting and withdrawing said support.

9. In a machine of the character described, a tag magazine adapted to hold a pile of tags, a tag aifixing means, means for moving the tag aflixing means first downwardly on to the tag and then longitudinally along the.

tag, means for retracting the tag afiixing' means, a tag support, means for inserting the tag support under the top tag of the ile before the tag aflixing means is applie to the tag, and means for withdrawing the tag sup ort after the tag affixing means has been app ied to the tag.

10. In a machine of the character described, a tag magazine adapted to hold a pile of tags, a tag aflixing means, means for moving the tag afiixing means first downwardly on to the tag and then longitudinally along the tag, means for retracting the tag afiixing means, a tag support, means for inserting the tag support under the top tag of the pile before the tag aflixing means is applied to the tag, means tending to withdraw the-support, restraining means for said with drawing means and means for tripping said restraining means. 7

11. In a machine for afiixing tags, the combination of a tag aflixing means, a tag magazine adapted to receive a pile of tags and removably supported on the machine, means for pushing the pile of tags toward. the tag aflixing means, a tag retainlng means limiting the movement of the tags toward the aflixing means, a tag support, means for inserting the tag support under the top tag before the tag aflixing means is applied to v the tag and means for withdrawing the sup-v port after the tag affixing means has been applied to the tag.

, MORRIS T. SOUTHWICK. 

